


Full Moon

by WhatWouldLilyDo



Series: NHL!Nursey [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Chowder week, Gen, mid-autumn festival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-09 04:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12268575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatWouldLilyDo/pseuds/WhatWouldLilyDo
Summary: Chowder Week Prompt 1: Full Moon





	Full Moon

The three of them crowded around the baking tray that Dex had just placed on the top of the stove.

“They don’t  _ look  _ like Bitty’s did last year,” Nursey said, dubiously.

Chowder frowned at the recipe, trying to find a step they might have missed, or a quantity they hadn’t measured accurately enough. “I swear, this is definitely the right recipe now. Bitty’s white, he probably didn’t do it right.”

Dex snorted. “Ch’yeah, that’s what Nursey said about that semolina cake, but at least Bitty’s version of it was edible.”

“Fuck you, Poindexter.”

Chowder let out a groan of frustration. “Why isn’t it fucking working? They were great last year! I thought we could do this without Lardo or Bitty.”

“There must be a step neither of them bothered to write down,” Dex said, plucking the recipe out of Chowder’s hands so that he could look at it himself.

“Or I’m just that bad at this.”

“My basbousa wasn’t too badly burnt,” Nursey said. Dex raised an eyebrow at him.

“We had to cut off a layer of black,” Chowder recalled.

“And yet inside was still completely raw,” Dex added.

“Yeah, but,” Nursey stumbled for an excuse. “That was with the old oven.”

Chowder looked up at Dex, and from the frown on his face guessed that he, too, was trying to remember if that really had been first year and, if so, how it was that it had been so long ago.

“Plus,” Nursey continued, as if he hadn’t just jolted both his best friends into questioning when they had gotten so old, “I’m an adult now with an adult job. I can cook.”

“You have a meal plan which delivers ready-made,” Dex said in a monotone.

There was the click of the front door opening, and Farmer’s voice drifted into the kitchen. “I have wine and a lighter!”

“Batch six looks even worse than batch four!” Dex called back.

Chowder shoved him in the shoulder. “Wait until they’ve cooled down! They might be great.”

“I don’t think we have time for a batch seven,” Farmer said, putting the bottle of wine down on the table.

“Yeah, actually, we should go now that it’s getting dark,” Dex agreed. “We want a decent night’s sleep before we have to go to the airport at the crack of dawn tomorrow.”

Chowder grabbed the tupperware box with their previous mooncake attempts in and carefully laid batch six on the top. Nursey picked up the pack of Kongming lanterns and Dex took the wine.

“What’s the rule?” Farmer said to Nursey when he held his hand out for the lighter.

“No fire until we’re at the Beach.”

Chowder hummed. “And the other rule?”

“No Tangled songs until we’re at the Beach.”

“Nursey…” Dex said in a warning tone.

Nursey huffed. “No Tangled songs, period.”

They walked to Lake Quad, chirping each other and laughing at everything whether it was funny or not. A few other groups of people were already there, their lanterns reflecting in the Pond and the four hurried to release their own. It took a few “ _ don't burn yourself” _ s, Dex snatching the lighter from Nursey and Chowder yelling for Farmer to stop taking photos of them because all four of them had to release the first lantern into the air together, but eventually it was rising up above their heads, and the other three in the pack soon followed. They watched for a while as the lanterns floated through the sky as colorful orbs, underneath the bright moon. Though the ground was a little damp, they were content to sit, looking at the display.

“Pass the mooncakes,” Nursey said. Chowder pulled the lid off and helped himself to one of the still slightly warm ones at the top before passing the box along.

“Is that one batch two?” Dex asked, though he took it anyway when Nursey shrugged.

“I’ll have a batch three one,” Farmer said, reaching across Chowder as Dex frowned into the box and plucked a mooncake out to pass to her. Chowder leaned back to give her room, and grabbed the wine off the ground while he was at it. The mooncakes were definitely not as good as the ones Bitty had made the year before, and the wine was Barefoot Sweet Red instead of a cassia wine, but it was an experience in itself to be with his friends, participating in tradition in their own student-y way.

“I propose a toast,” Farmer said, when the bottle was passed to her for a second time, “to Nursey’s first real AHL game on Friday, and to him totally getting called up to the NHL before too long.”

“Shut up,” Nursey said, lying back on the ground with his hands over his face. Dex grinned and held his hand out for the bottle.

“And to senior year for the rest of us. And especially to the power couple captains who are going to bring glory to Samwell Women’s Volleyball and Mens’ Hockey, and probably graduate  _ summa cum laude _ at the same time.”

Chowder snorted, but he didn’t deny the comment and his cheeks were burning when he took another swig of the wine. “To next year,” he said. “To 2018 being better, and to us figuring it all out after graduation. To… Even though we won’t be able to do this next year, at least we’ll be settled, right? By Mid-Autumn.”

“Chowder…” Dex started, but he cut off when Nursey sat up and grabbed the wine out of Chowder’s hands.

“My turn, right? Okay, I’ll toast to Mid-Autumn Festival. I didn’t even know what it was three years ago but it’s a Frog tradition now. We’ll make it happen next year, no matter where we all are. And here’s to Chowder, because I’m sorry I’m going to be missing your birthday, bro.”

“It’s okay.”

“Nah, it’s not, but I mean it, we are one hundred percent on for Mid-Autumn Festival next year. Maybe by then we can figure out how to make mooncakes properly. Or, we’ll think of it early enough to shop around for some to buy which I can eat.”

“And we’ll be able to afford better wine,” Farmer added.

A grin spread across Chowder’s face and he shifted until he could look at all of them at once. “Okay. That sounds good.”

“And we’ll have strawberry and rhubarb pie,” Dex said. “Not because of tradition or anything, but just because.”

Chowder flopped back onto the ground, staring up at the lights. “You lot are the best. That’s all I want. You three, and the lanterns on the full moon, and strawberry and rhubarb pie.”

Farmer’s hand pressed into his, and she lay down next to him. Nursey and Dex followed suit, bickering quietly over which lanterns were theirs, even though they were too far away at this point to be able to tell.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Also on [tumblr](http://whatwouldlilydo.tumblr.com/post/166055126902/full-moon)


End file.
